What are the components and features of the Boeing 797 plane?

A:

Quick Answer

Unfortunately for aviation enthusiasts and travelers, no Boeing 797 aircraft exists as of 2015. Boeing may eventually use the 797 designation for a future aircraft; however, the number is most associated with Internet hoaxes claiming the announcement of a huge blended-wing aircraft.

Keep Learning

While rumors and Photoshopped images of a potential Boeing 797 design have circulated online since at least 1996, Boeing does not produce nor does it have plans for a 797 design. Many hoaxes claim the 797 as a huge 1000-passenger aircraft with a blended wing design that more efficiently uses the space required by the aircraft, reducing fuel consumption. The hoaxes claim the aircraft is meant to compete with the very large, but traditionally designed, Airbus A380.

Boeing does have an advanced research division, Phantom Works, working on various projects, including small blended-wing test projects in tandem with NASA and the U.S. Air Force, but no commercially available blended-wing aircraft is currently produced. Both Airbus and Boeing also have patents for advanced technologies not yet introduced into production designs, such as hybrid electric aircraft engines that may allow for efficient fuel consumption and shorter take-off distances.

Some major aircraft buyers, such as Steven Udvar-Hazy, also want Boeing to manufacture a 797 aircraft, but not to compete with the Airbus A380. Rather, Udvar-Hazy wants a new jet to replace the gap in the market left by the 2005 discontinuation of the Boeing 757.